Hobart/Miller/Lincoln?

[MissouriSprayer]

I have a miller. Works better than I do

 

[grsthegreat]

I picked up a brand NEW thunderbolt ac/dc for just under $500 late last year. Its a truly wonderful machine.

 

[Sublifer]

I picked up a brand NEW thunderbolt ac/dc for just under $500 late last year. Its a truly wonderful machine.

How much do those weigh?

 

[rcowan]

If possible, take a welding course at your local community college.
I just finished the Oxy course. It teaches much more than just gas. Lots of metal and safety information and other types of welding.

WHy are you thinking of a stick welder?

RC

I HOPE to sell a home this year where the whole check ain't going to pay some bill and have $500 or so to buy me a stick welder. I was thinking that AC/DC Lincoln (tombstone), or the Hobart Stickmate LX-235 or Miller Thunderbolt (if the price is right)..... Any recommendations? I hope to find a good used one, but a new one MAY fit the budget if the deal is good..again tryin' to stay as close $500 as possible. Any other suggestions?

I was told by my welder co-workers get the AC/DC model because of the increased capacity of the machine...

Doin' the general fab around the shed thing, and to improve my skills for my construction job so maybe I can become a welder (by golly)....

 

[Groo]

If you want an old school AC/DC welder, I'd get a Lincoln from Home Depot. They are by far the cheapest for those. I can only think they signed a long term contract before the price of copper skyrocketed, they are that much cheaper than everyone else.

I have also been searching for a stick welder, and decided I might as well get a Inversion machine. lower price (for the Chinese ones), lower weight, and higher duty cycle, but once I made that decision, a machine that can do TIG isn't a huge step up. But I might as well get a AC/DC TIG machine so I can do Aluminum too. Unfortunately, that's getting well over my budget at that point..... Isn't that always the way it goes :laughing:

 

[BlacknTan]

An old Tombstone will do you well while you're learning, and always great to have around afterwards also. An old Dial-Arc is even better, but not portable.
Beware the Chinese machines. The price is low, and the warranty great... until you need it, that is. Ship the whole machine back on YOUR dime when you can get someone to respond. Do your homework, look inside one. Looks more like a cellphone than a welder.
Search the weld forums, although be aware that the Chi-Com machines have their own areas and delete all negative comments before they go too far. They also have shills that give positive reviews for financial incentives on equipment.. Just be aware..

An educated consumer is the best customer of the old established brands.

 

[Groo]

An old Tombstone will do you well while you're learning, and always great to have around afterwards also. An old Dial-Arc is even better, but not portable.
Beware the Chinese machines. The price is low, and the warranty great... until you need it, that is. Ship the whole machine back on YOUR dime when you can get someone to respond. Do your homework, look inside one. Looks more like a cellphone than a welder.
Search the weld forums, although be aware that the Chi-Com machines have their own areas and delete all negative comments before they go too far. They also have shills that give positive reviews for financial incentives on equipment.. Just be aware..

An educated consumer is the best customer of the old established brands.

Its not just Chinese welders that censor forums with sponsorship dollars, but they are getting rather infamous for it recently. I ran into a similar situation with my portable sawmill (a Timberking 2000). I did some internet searches on the machine before buying, and felt reassured when I didn't find a negative review on the machine, only positive. When I left a critical review of the machine on a large forestry forum, I was called an incompetent crybaby and my post was deleted. When I wrote back and listed purely factual shortcomings with no opinion at all, and that got deleted too, so I responded with "well, since I obviously can't say anything bad about a sponsor, I wont dare say what I think of my chainsaw", and got banned. I guess its pretty obvious why I didn't find a single bad review of the machine.

 

[grsthegreat]

How much do those weigh?

100 pounds...not light thats for sure. I also ordered the wheel and handle kit

 

[rcowan]

I picked up a Hobart 175 in a gun trade the other day. This thing is the cats meow.

RC

 

[troutsqueezer]

Asking which brand of welder to buy is like asking which make of car to buy. There is no definitive answer. Better to ask about various types of welders, not brands.